My generation

I came of age in the middle of the United States' "cultural revolution", the late 1960's and early 1970's. Though the 'revolution' has continued since then, this was the heart of the rebellion. Sex, drugs and rock-and-roll and not trusting anyone over thirty were the mindsets and I have to admit that not many were able to resist the groupthink.

Abortion had just become legal due to Roe v. Wade and the pill had just made the scene. "I am curious yellow" was actually shown at your neighborhood movie theater and Timothy Leary became an almost acceptable university professor. Revolution was indeed in the air and no one seemed willing to continue with the 'status quo'. I was totally immersed in this revolution.

As we move into the 21st century, it is easy to see some of the results of this revolution, and this will be part of the focus of this blog as we go forward. But, there is an angle relative to the sixties and this time which I feel is overlooked. Prior to the sixties, political correctness existed from the other side, the conservative side, and no one could break any of the taboos about a list of social facets without suffering greatly at the hands of the majority. The reason most often given for our revolution of 40 years ago was that we could think for ourselves; we did not need to all follow the same marching orders, choose your own hair length and points of view.... in short, there was no need for us to regurgitate the same 'groupthink'.

My problem in 2009 is that I believe my generation rejected the politically correct guidelines they felt were repressive and embraced the opposing views in our society, which happened to be those of the left. At that point they rested and have not tried very hard to be sure they are on the right page. They are now part of the "new flock" and content that they chose the 'right' direction years ago.

This would all be okay if you could trust anyone implicitly, but just like hackers or hustlers of any kind, when you fix one leak they will come at you another way, with the goal of taking advantage of or controlling you. I have been on a constant media and financial market scouring mission since the mid-1990's and, truthfully, I do not know anyone else who has taken this approach. I understand why others do not try to access a constant variety of opinions and aspects of what is going on, but I have found they are then subject to the same few voices to tell them what is going on.

This may indeed show how I am crazy, but it also allows me to hear many points of view. I listen to the Air America types and the Fox News team, as well as MSNBC, Rush Limbaugh, CNN, Glenn Beck, Larry Kudlow and PBS (like NewsHour with Jim Lehrer or the BBC). I hear things most people never hear, and I'll finish this piece with an example of this. Several days after the 9/11 attacks I was listening to Terry Gross (the show Fresh Air) on National Public Radio and she had Michael Moore on as a guest. He was saying we should not attack Afghanistan (the Taliban) over Osama bin Laden, because we would just be trying to control pipelines through Afghanistan and we should exercise "restraint". In 2003, when we were going to invade Iraq, I heard Michael Moore on the Howard Stern Show, saying that he was against the invasion of Iraq, but reassuring Howard that, indeed, he had been all for the invasion of Afghanistan, as it was justified. This baloney was most likely heard by few considering the different shows on which Moore had been on.

I welcome any comments on this and future posts. The process here will be to deal with general philosophies as well as current events. The goal will be to truly understand life, overall and how it is immediately playing out. Rob